Indonesia's SEA Games athletes to join roll call ceremonies

JAKARTA (JP): National athletes, being groomed for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, will join roll call ceremonies in six cities on Thursday to mark the second phase of the biennial event's decentralized training program.

Project officer Putera Astaman told reporters on Wednesday that the ceremonies would take place in Jakarta, Bandar Lampung, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, and Bali at the same time, 9 a.m.

"The roll call ceremony is aimed at encouraging a sense of togetherness for all athletes and coaches. It is also to remind them that they have a big responsibility to achieve their best in the Games," he said.

Putera emphasized the National Sports Council's (KONI) ambitious goal to reclaim the overall champion title at the Games.

"This year's Games is not an event just for juniors to gain experience. Athletes and coaches must work hard to achieve their best results at the event."

"The main goal is to repay the humiliation we received in the Bandar Seri Begawan 1999 SEA Games when we failed to defend the overall title."

"It was a good example as to why we have to keep improving our achievements not only compared to our own standards but also against our opponents' achievements."

Indonesia fell to third place in the 1999 Games, the first time since its participation in the Games in 1977, following arch rival Thailand and neighboring new powerhouse Malaysia.

The second phase of the Games training program is aimed at improving the athletes' technical skills after their completion of the first phase of physical fitness training that took place from October until December last year.

One thousand and 125 athletes and 242 coaches in the first phase of the decentralized program will be reduced to 1,071 athletes and 224 coaches in the second phase starting Feb. 1 until end of May.

Putera expressed regret and dissatisfaction over the fact that most athletes failed to improve their physical fitness during the training's first phase.

"Not all of KONI's branches were successful in improving athletes' physical fitness but we must take into account the circumstances with regard to the fact that it was the first time the branches were involved in preparation for the Games."

"We still have time to improve their physical fitness in the second phase. KONI will run a test to determine the most suitable program for each athlete."

KONI will periodically evaluate progress of the second phase of training.

"We will evaluate which sports and athletes deserve to compete in the Games. KONI will prioritize top athletes who have the chance to reach the finals. The second priority is those who can reach the semifinals, preferably those who have the chance to grab bronze medals."

"KONI will collect this phase's final reports in May and the information gathered from these will be used as the basis for the final selection of some 600 athletes for our contingent."

Putera said it was possible that a sports event or athlete would be taken out of the list if they consistently showed poor progress.

"Such a mechanism will force athletes to give their best performance as there is no guarantee at all that they will be automatically selected," he said. (nvn)